Malcolm Douglas (7 April posting) flatters my scholarship! In my recording songs from source singers around here, mainly Gloucestershire, I have found that Buttercup Joe is about the most popular song. I think I have about 15 recordings of it from various singers. Most regard it as a 'local' song, in view, I suppose of the 'mummerset' dialect which can easily be adapted to the Gloucestershire/Devon/Somerset etc speech patterns. So far as I can ascertain, most versions stem from the Albert Richardson recording, but occasionally the tune or words have undergone the folk process. One of these versions is on the Folktrax CD "All Brought up on Cider" which I recorded from Gwen Hannis in Gloucestershire. I note that the version in 'Wanton Seed' was collected in Hampshire in 1905 and is the first known 'collected' version. I put 'collected' in quotes as the song was probably only about 30 years old by then.

Malcolm also mentions 'cod-rural' songs, (such as 'Farmer Giles', 'I bain't half as soft as I looks' etc. Perhaps we ought to start a thread on these.

Incidentally, our group Puzzlejug, performs the song with appropriate actions in the chorus - great fun and the audience loves it!

Gwilym